Missing-person case reclassified as homicide

SACRAMENTO, CALIF.  The case of a pregnant woman who went missing Christmas Eve has been reclassified as a homicide, police said Wednesday.

Authorities did not give a specific reason for the change. The case of Laci Peterson, 27, of Modesto, had been treated as a missing person investigation for more than two months.

"As the investigation has progressed we have increasingly come to believe that Laci Peterson is the victim of a violent crime," said a statement released Wednesday by Craig Grogan, the department's lead homicide investigator.

Grogan said the reclassification had prompted a new $50,000 reward for "information that leads to her location and recovery." Previously a $500,000 reward was offered for information leading to Peterson's safe return home to her family.